TheStarScoop.Com talked to Jason Earles, who stars on the mega hit Hannah Montana as the silly, sometimes immature but lovable Jackson Stewart. Jason gave us the scoop on the Hannah Montana Movie, meeting an ostrich and more.
The Star Scoop:
The Hannah Montana Movie will be coming out in the future. Tell us about this movie.
Jason Earles:
It's coming out on April 10th. The thing that we're really excited about is that it's a sneak peak into where the Stewart family comes from. Miley sort of loses her way a little bit, and maybe buys into the Hannah Montana hype a little too much, so we take her back home and show her what's important in life.
The Star Scoop:
When you started Hannah Montana, did you have any sense of how big it would become?
Jason Earles:
I think we all were really optimistic that the show would get picked up and that the kids would like it, but for it to turn into as popular a family show as it has, I think we're all pleasantly surprised by that. It sort of reminds of us those all TGI Friday shows. Instead of just a kid show on the Disney Channel, it feels like something you could put on network television, 8:00 at night, and families would sit around and watch together. We're just thrilled with how it all turned out.
The Star Scoop:
Miley has her dad actually playing her dad. So coming in for you to be the other child, did you feel like you had to work at the chemistry?
Jason Earles:
I was really worried about it at first, but anybody that's spent any time around Billy Ray and Miley, they quickly feel right at ease. What you see is what you get. They're very accepting of new people and new experiences. They just sort of embraced me as part of the family from the very beginning. They did a great job of even extending that beyond me. Oliver and Lily, the two best friends, they were just as readily accepted into the whole Cyrus clan as I was. I think it's really a sort of testament to them starting off on the right foot, letting the chemistry just be as opposed to making it awkward at first.
The Star Scoop:
Jackson is a popular character with the fans. He's funny and he does a lot of the comic relief in the show. In terms of preparing for all the silly things he does, how do you prepare?
Jason Earles:
I've always been sort of a goofy guy, was the type that would pull out all the stops to try and make everybody laugh, whether it was at school, a party, family functions, or whatever. It's very liberating, very free. Just go and act as silly as possible in the role. I always figure Miley and Lily will take care of the girl fans. It's sort of my responsibility to do something that's going to keep the brothers and dads interested. I figure the more outrageous and funny stuff I can come up with, the more I feed into that.
The Star Scoop:
With all of Jackson's antics, how much of it is what's in the script and how much of it is what you bring to the character?
Jason Earles:
I think it goes back and forth. At first, it was a lot of me just sort of freelancing the extra stuff, the physical bits and showing the writers that I was good at that stuff. They quickly realized what my strengths were, so they started to write a lot of the bits into the script and then I could either play them straight or put my own twist on them. I think there's been a really cool give and take over the last three years of me suggesting things and the writers coming up with brilliant things on their own. I think one of the reasons why our show works so well is they do a good job of playing to all of our strengths. They allow a little bit of improvisation and freelancing as we go along. Funny is funny, and we all can share the credit in that.
The Star Scoop:
How has your fan base changed over the course of the show, and how has it all affected your life?
Jason Earles:
It's been fun. I think my experience probably has been much less challenging than Miley's. She just sort of blew up over night, and she can't go anywhere in public. She has reached this level of super stardom that makes leading a normal life pretty difficult. [For me], it's not really overwhelming. Usually it's a nice little family comes over to me, says, Hey, we love the show. We really like your character. Do you mind if we take a picture? It's just sort of the nice little moment. The progression over the last three years has been sort of cool, too, because at first it was Hey, that's Hannah Montana's brother, and then six months later, it was, Hey that's Jackson from Hannah Montana, and six months later it was Jason Earles. The longer the show's been on, the more the fans can know you as an actor and a person. It strengthens that relationship that you have with your fans.
The Star Scoop:
What do you want your fans to know about you?
Jason Earles:
I think people would be really surprised that I come from a really big family and that I was really pretty shy growing up. Acting was my outlet to sort of break out of that and learn how to interact with other people and not be so self-conscious of being a little bit shorter. Coming from a family that, we sort of struggled a little bit growing up. The acting has been my way of coping with all of that stuff. It's something that I take a lot of pride in. I'm just thrilled that anybody cares enough to watch! I am so blessed to be a part of this whole Hannah Montana experience. I everyday think about the fans that watch the show and the ones that make it all possible for me to experience this. I could never say enough times how much I appreciate everything that the fans do for us. So just a giant thank you, thank you, thank you.
The Star Scoop:
The Hannah Montana Movie is a huge motion picture for you, compared to your other work!
Jason Earles:
Day to day, I try not to think about the fact that it's a major motion picture. That's the quickest way to mess yourself up. If you're like, Oh my God, we're spending so much money to make this movie, and there's going to be millions of people, and they're going to judge me. If you start thinking like that, you get lost in all of it. If you just show up, and you go, I've been acting since I was seven, and if I stay true to the things that I do, then it will all take care of itself. I try not to get overwhelmed with the scope of it all. Just show up and try to figure out, what's the funniest thing I can do today that makes sense with the story we're trying to tell.
The Star Scoop:
Where do you see yourself post Hannah Montana?
Jason Earles:
The last two years have been great because I've had a chance to jump back and forth. I've done a little voice over work, with Space Buddies. We did a TV movie, Dadnapped, we've got the Hannah Movie, which is a theater movie, and then our TV show. I feel like I've been really lucky to play in all of the different areas. I don't think I have a favorite. I think each one is its own unique experience and is creatively fulfilling in its own may. If I could pull a Michael J. Fox and jump back and forth between TV and films, and family stuff and a little more mature stuff, that seems like that's the best of both worlds, no pun intended [laughs].
The Star Scoop:
Who will the Hannah Montana movie appeal to?
Jason Earles:
This movie is really great family entertainment. If there was no Hannah Montana TV show, this would still be a great family movie to go see. It's beautifully shot, there's tremendous music in it, there's some heartfelt moments, there's stuff that will make you laugh. I really think that Miley is going to get nominated for an Academy Award for the music in this movie. I think it's easily the best music of her entire career, so I'm really excited for the fans to get a chance to get exposed to that. There's a really great blend of heart warming moments with the family, and some silly stuff like we're sort of known for.
The Star Scoop:
So the atmosphere of the show is able to translate to the screen as well?
Jason Earles:
I know they've been testing the movie for the last couple of months, and it's testing better than anything that Walt Disney Pictures has tested in recent memory. It doesn't matter if you're a 40 year old man or an 11 year old girl. Everybody has been just raving about it. They really, really like the movie. I think people may expect to see a super-sized episode of Hannah Montana as the movie, and it really is not that at all. It's a beautiful stand alone family comedy that everybody can watch, and everybody can get something out of it.
The Star Scoop:
What else do you want to put out there for everyone?
Jason Earles:
Sometimes people ask me the stuff that I do in my spare time. I'm a big snowboarded. Love playing video games. I see a ton of movies and watch lots of television, so it's my business but it's also something that I'm very interested in. A story from the Hannah movie. I'll give you a quick little story about something that happened on the movie. The very first thing I did for the Hannah Montana movie was my wardrobe fitting with the head costume designer; his name is Christopher. He asked me what I thought of the script, and I said, I think it's really funny and it's heartfelt and I like it, but there's this one part that I'm really nervous about. Jackson ends up working in a petting zoo, and he does a scene with an ostrich. I don't like birds at all, and it's a six foot tall, prehistoric bird that I'm positive you can't train to do anything. They've got a brain the size of a walnut. I go, I just don't want the ostrich to bite me in the face. The very first take of the day we were shooting with the ostrich, the ostrich bit me in the face. My face welted up, and we were spending the whole day trying to keep it from puffing up and getting red. But I had to shoot the entire rest of the day after this giant bird that I was terrified of bit me in the face. So, my greatest fear came true. I think I probably jinxed myself by saying something in the wardrobe fitting. I just thought it was sort of ironic that the very first thing I did on the movie, I mentioned the not getting bitten in the face, and that was the first thing the ostrich did when I worked with it.
The Star Scoop:
The important question is, did you make peace with the ostrich?
Jason Earles:
We had ostrich burgers for lunch the next day [laughs]. I actually, by the end of the day, I sort of figured out how to be around the ostrich without being terrified and without getting hurt [laughs]. They take a little getting used to, because they're just so big, and they look at you funny with those big eyes, and they've got those crazy necks. Yes, eventually, I think we saw eye to eye.